I was born in Germany and was trained as a mathematician at the University of Heidelberg, where I received a PhD in 1981.

I trained as a postdoctoral associate at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, was an instructor at Northwestern University and at the University of Texas at Austin, and have been at Georgetown University since 1984.

I was a visitor at the University of Bonn, a research associate at NIST and at NOAA, and have worked as a program director at NSF multiple times. I have also worked as a consultant for private companies.